This invention relates to the extraction of hair grafts from a donor area and more particularly to a device for controllably positioning a hair extraction instrument for removing follicular units of hair.
Hair transplant procedures have been carried out for decades. Initially, a punch was used to remove a circular area of hairy skin containing ten or more follicular units (of 1-3 hairs each). The area of hairy skin replaced a like area of bald skin removed from the patient. Several of such xe2x80x9cplugs,xe2x80x9d were placed into areas in the bald part of the head.
The circular punch was later replaced by a hollow powered drill and the space left in the donor area was left to heal naturally. Both of these prior art procedures allowed wounds to stay open for weeks at a time exposing a patient to the discomfort from large wounds measuring 3-5 millimeters in diameter.
Today""s standard procedure involves a linear incision which permits a strip of hairy skin down into the fatty level of one quarter inch and measuring a number of square inches. The resulting wound is sutured closed and the strip is dissected (under a microscope), cooled in an ice bath or refrigerator and then transplanted into a bald area in needle size holes. Forceps grasp each graft and places them into holes in the bald area.
In one form of automatic harvesting, the harvesting of grafts from the strip of hairy skin can result in significant damage to the hair. The damage occurs because the hair in the hairy skin is forced through a cutting grid in order to make grafts of a predetermined size. The cutting blades of the grid are positioned at the most ideal distance between follicles. Unfortunately, the distance between follicles varies randomly. The result is that a significant number of the hair follicles are damaged and die.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a hollow instrument with a cutting edge such as a drill or punch with a diameter slightly larger than a follicular unit is used to cut the scalp. The instrument includes an imaging system such as a video system which allows the health care professional to align the instrument along the axis of the follicular unit and to produce a cutting action outside of the follicular unit""s critical anatomical parts. As the wound is very small, this results in relatively fast healing, less bleeding and virtually no grossly visible scar tissue formation.
In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, a fluid injection system injects fluid under high pressure into the scalp to enlarge the distance between follicular units from an average of 1 mm to about 2 mm.
In accordance with another embodiment an x/y/z stabilization gantry is employed to fix the hollow instrument and thus the imaging system. In still another embodiment a suction device is positioned to create traction driving the cutting of a follicular unit to ensure that cutting proceeds only to a prescribed depth.